Suffolk wins praise at the national Community Energy Awards 2018

The Suffolk Climate Change Partnership has received a national award for supporting local communities to be more energy efficient.

An expert panel of judges awarded the Local Authority Award to the Partnership for its close working with local organisations.

This includes exploring how organisations can be more energy efficient, helping to source funding, producing a community energy toolkit, providing technical support and investing in energy efficiency installations. In addition, over 120 community buildings have received in-depth advice and support to be more energy efficient.

The Suffolk Climate Change Partnership is a collaboration of Suffolk County Council, all Suffolk’s borough and district councils and The Environment Agency. It supports the county’s communities, businesses and residents to reduce carbon emissions, realise the economic benefits of reducing energy consumption and adapt to the future impacts of climate change. Its work has brought in significant amounts of external funding to Suffolk, running highly-successful projects for its customers.

On behalf of the Suffolk Climate Change Partnership, Councillor Richard Rout, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for environment and public protection, said:

“Winning this award is only possible due to the successful collaborative partnerships that exist in Suffolk. We are all working hard towards our aspiration of becoming the Greenest County and supporting our communities to manage energy smartly.

“Along with the advice and support for communities which this award highlights, we are excited by the progress being made here. For example, Solar Together Suffolk, is a scheme which has enabled local residents to purchase low-cost solar panels. Another project is BEE Anglia which supports businesses and communities to improve their energy efficiency with the support of European Regional Development funding.

“We’re delighted for this acknowledgement at a national level, as it is evidence that we are running creative and innovative projects here in Suffolk.”

Mark Billsborough, Head of Renewables and Hedging at Co-op Energy and one of the judging panel, said:

“It’s been an honour to judge the Community Energy Awards 2018. I can honestly say that making the final decisions was incredibly difficult. It’s clear that the impact of collaborations, like the Suffolk Climate Change Partnership, means more people are able to access the benefits of community energy and make a change for the better in our bid to become a more energy efficient society.”

The Community Energy Awards 2018 marked the culmination of the inaugural Green Great Britain Week; a new initiative from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) highlighting the opportunities clean growth offers the UK. The week also marked the 10-year anniversary of the Climate Change Act.

Rt Hon Claire Perry MP, Minister for Energy and Clean Growth, said:

“The UK has led the world in cutting emissions whilst growing our economy – with clean growth driving incredible innovation and creating hundreds of thousands of high quality jobs. Ten years on from the Climate Change Act, the first ever Green GB week is a time to build on our successes and explain the huge opportunities for business and young people of a cleaner economy. I’m delighted to see how many more businesses and organisations such as Community Energy England and Community Energy Wales are seizing this multi-billion pound opportunity to energize their communities to tackle the very serious threat of climate change.”